CDC to Investigate Morgellons Disease

Because people have been making a lot of recent inquires over a mysterious condition of the skin, referred to as Morgellons Disease, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, is conducting an investigation over this.

Morgellons Disease is being looked at by the CDC, with this horrible skin condition featuring crawling, stinging, and biting sensations in sufferers. Here's more about the skin condition called Morgellons Disease, in which the CDC, according to its website article, is partnering with health insurance provider Kaiser Permanente Northern California for an investigation.

Why Northern California Sufferers Are Being Targeted First For The Investigation

Morgellons Disease has been widely reported via self-reported cases in the Northern California area, according to the CDC article above, and so Kaiser Permanente Northern California is going to partner with the government agency to find out more about this skin condition. The two organizations are going to begin getting sufferers aged 13 and over who were insured by Kaiser Permanente Northern California from July 2006 to December 2007 and who live in Northern California readied for a study if they meet the criteria.

The health insurance provider serves a population where this mysterious ailment has been concentrated. The investigation is expected to take at least a year to conduct, and will include blood tests and skin biopsies. Besides the strange sensations, granules, threads, fibers and/or black speck-like objects are on top of or under one's skin for those who have this condition. Sufferers have also complained of tiredness, being confused, loss of their short term memory, vision changes, and pain in their joints, according to another CDC article.

Yet Northern California isn't the only place where people are suffering from this condition called Morgellons Disease. According to an article by CBS11TV.com, which serves the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area, a woman who lives in North Texas by the name of Cindy Casey has been afflicted with this condition for a long time. The article says that the medical community has disrespected sufferers by sometimes calling them "delusional".

According to Wikipedia, Morgellons Disease (also called Morgellons Syndrome) was named by a biologist by the name of Mary Leitao in 2002. Her studies were initiated because her 2 year old son had complained of "bugs" and had sores under his lip. She found other symptoms mentioned above associated with her son, but after taking him to many doctors, they couldn't identify any specific ailment, and the condition only got worse. She chose the name Morgellons based on a 17^th Century monograph called A Letter to a Friend by Sir Thomas Browne, where he describes a medical skin condition called morgellons, where "harsh hairs" break out on the backs of kids.

The CDC recommends treatment from a healthcare provider and doesn't currently endorse any particular products for treatments, despite claims from some companies that are peddling supposed cures for Morgellons Disease.

The CDC can also be contacted by calling 404-718-1199 (a voice mail with a pre-recorded message) or by emailing morgellonssyndrome@cdc.gov The CDC plans on updating its website as new information comes.